State of New South Wales, Australia — Towns & Travel Guide

What is State of New South Wales known for?

New South Wales is best known as the state of Sydney, the capital that gathers most of its life on the east coast of Australia. The state reaches from the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea inland toward the interior, bordering Queensland to the north and Victoria to the south. Its coast draws the crowds.

Beyond the shoreline the land climbs and dries into the wider Australian interior.

Where is State of New South Wales?

New South Wales sits on the east coast of Australia, its long shoreline facing the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea. The state borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and South Australia to the west, a broad wedge of country running from the ocean deep into the interior. The coast holds most of it.

Behind the beaches the land rises and then flattens westward into dry inland plains, far from any sea. Two territories sit inside the state as enclaves, the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory, carved out of its ground. Sydney stands on the coast, on one of the most famous harbours in the world.

The state is organised around that harbour. From there the country spreads west across ranges and then out onto the plains, drying as it goes toward South Australia and the outback edge. The Tasman Sea runs the length of the eastern edge.

Rivers cross the inland slopes, while the Coral Sea washes the far northern shore near the Queensland border. East to west, New South Wales moves from surf to desert. The sea sets its face.

What is State of New South Wales like?

Life in New South Wales gathers on the coast, and its culture is a coastal one. Sydney sets the tone, a harbour city whose beaches, ferries and waterfront run through how the state sees itself. In New South Wales the ocean is always close at hand.

Most of the state's people live within reach of the Coral Sea or the Tasman Sea, and the rhythm of surf, sand and open water shapes daily life along the east coast far more than the dry interior does. Inland the character shifts. West of the ranges the country turns to farming and open plains, a slower, drier world that stretches toward South Australia and the outback edge.

That divide, between the crowded coast and the empty inland, runs through the identity of New South Wales. Two ways of living share one state. The coast looks out to the Tasman Sea, while the interior keeps its back to the ocean, and the state carries both in its sense of itself.

What is the history of State of New South Wales?

New South Wales was founded in 1788 as the first British colony in Australia, begun at Sydney on the harbour. The colony spread from that coastal foothold across the east coast and inland over the following century. Sydney anchored it from the start.

From that first settlement grew the state that still carries the oldest colonial history in the country, its origins fixed on the shore of the Tasman Sea.

What is the climate of State of New South Wales?

New South Wales runs through several climates between its coast and its interior. The east coast stays mild and moist, warmed by the Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea, with warm summers and gentle winters near Sydney. Inland it dries out fast.

West of the ranges the plains turn hot by day and cold at night, a continental interior far from the sea's steadying reach.

How do you get to State of New South Wales?

Most arrivals to New South Wales come through Sydney, the state capital and its main point of entry. Flights land on the coast. From the harbour city, road and rail run north toward Queensland, south toward Victoria and west across the ranges into the interior, tracing the east coast and the inland routes alike.

The Tasman Sea guides the coastal approach. Sydney is where the state begins for most travellers.